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In The Mood For Love (2000)

In The Mood For Love (2000)
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For his first film since the 1997 Hong Kong handover, auteur filmmaker Wong Kar-wai directs this moody period drama about unrequited love that, like his earlier work, swoons with romantic melancholy. Set in a Shanghaiese enclave in Hong Kong in 1962, the film centers on two young couples who rent adjacent rooms in a cramped and crowded tenement. Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) works as a secretary in an export company while her husband's job at a Japanese multinational keeps him away on extended business trips. Across the hall, Chow (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) works as a newspaper editor and is married to a woman who is also frequently out of town. Neither respective spouse is ever shown in full, instead they are shot from the back or obscured by walls and furniture. Li-zhen and Chow soon strike up a cordial -- if tenative -- friendship. Chow begins to suspect that his wife's long absences are not entirely business related when he stops in unannounced at her office to discover that she is not there. Later, a colleague tells him that he saw his wife with another man. The icing on the cake comes when Chow notices that Li-zhen's handbag is identical to his wife's while Li-zhen discovers that Chow is wearing a tie that she gave her husband; it doesn't take long for them to realize that their spouses are sleeping together. Drawn together by shame and anger, Chow and Li-zhen reveal nothing of their discoveries to their partners. While working through their guilt by imagining how their adulterous spouses first hooked up and rehearsing interrogations, the pair slowly fall in love in spite of their determination to uphold their end of their marital vows. In the Mood for Love, which was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, barely made it to the fest's final slot; Wong Kar-wai was reportedly shooting scenes in Cambodia a week prior to the festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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Starring:
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Maggie Cheung, (more)
Director(s):
Wong Kar-Wai
Theatrical MPAA Rating:
PG
Format(s):
DVD
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Synopsis of In The Mood For Love

For his first film since the 1997 Hong Kong handover, auteur filmmaker Wong Kar-wai directs this moody period drama about unrequited love that, like his earlier work, swoons with romantic melancholy. Set in a Shanghaiese enclave in Hong Kong in 1962, the film centers on two young couples who rent adjacent rooms in a cramped and crowded tenement. Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) works as a secretary in an export company while her husband's job at a Japanese multinational keeps him away on extended business trips. Across the hall, Chow (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) works as a newspaper editor and is married to a woman who is also frequently out of town. Neither respective spouse is ever shown in full, instead they are shot from the back or obscured by walls and furniture. Li-zhen and Chow soon strike up a cordial -- if tenative -- friendship. Chow begins to suspect that his wife's long absences are not entirely business related when he stops in unannounced at her office to discover that she is not there. Later, a colleague tells him that he saw his wife with another man. The icing on the cake comes when Chow notices that Li-zhen's handbag is identical to his wife's while Li-zhen discovers that Chow is wearing a tie that she gave her husband; it doesn't take long for them to realize that their spouses are sleeping together. Drawn together by shame and anger, Chow and Li-zhen reveal nothing of their discoveries to their partners. While working through their guilt by imagining how their adulterous spouses first hooked up and rehearsing interrogations, the pair slowly fall in love in spite of their determination to uphold their end of their marital vows. In the Mood for Love, which was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, barely made it to the fest's final slot; Wong Kar-wai was reportedly shooting scenes in Cambodia a week prior to the festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
98 mins

Complete Cast of In The Mood For Love


Director(s):
Wong Kar-Wai
Writer(s):
Wong Kar-Wai
Producer(s):
Wong Kar-Wai
Theatrical MPAA Rating:
PG(Adult Situations, Adult Language)
Categories:
Romance
In The Mood For Love Awards:
  • 2000 - Cannes Film Festival - Grand Technical Prize
  • 2000 - Cannes Film Festival - Best Actor
  • 2000 - Cannes Film Festival - Grand Technical Prize
  • 2000 - Cannes Film Festival - Grand Technical Prize
  • 2000 - European Film Academy - Screen International Award
  • 2000 - French Academy of Cinema - Best Foreign Film
  • 2001 - Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Cinematography (Runner-up)
  • 2001 - Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Language Film
  • 2001 - National Society of Film Critics - Best Cinematography
  • 2001 - National Society of Film Critics - Best Foreign Language Film
  • 2001 - National Society of Film Critics - Best Cinematography
  • 2001 - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Cinematography
  • 2001 - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Foreign Film
  • 2001 - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Cinematography
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    Matthew S.

    How rare is it nowadays to see a good romance with at least a semi-intricate plot, and BREATH-TAKING cinematography (best part, IMHO), without the need for one sex scene (or even anything beyond a hug, for that matter) to portray the story? I can't think of another modern example.

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    Peter H.

    This is a period piece set in Hong Kong around 1962 right after the great famine of China drove 120,000 mainlanders to Hong Kong. People who came from Shanghai often shared housing and adjusted to life in HK, albeit in very tight and shared confines. This is a fascinating snapshot of a period not often shown seen by Westerners. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. It certainly is slow and the theme is definitely a prevailing loneliness of new emigrants left behind by spouses, however, it's visually enticing, the acting is fantastic, it's stylish and moody, and the possibilities of hope through newfound love makes the movie quite unforgettable. The stylish dresses of Maggie Cheung and the day-to day wearing of suit and tie by Tony Leong remind me of my parents' dress during that period, through old pictures and my possibly embellished or imagined childhood memories.

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    Kathy S.

    The cinematography, the storyline, and acting are first rate. However, the movie moves so slowly that I was getting bored near the end of the movie. Also, the music was getting annoying. A good movie, but not great. I would not watch it again.

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